Try
by Yaoimelody
Summary: NoticeMeShipping. Pre-TechnoShipping. Pre-LavaShipping. Lloyd is on the ship as a kid, but what happens the day after he's first there?


Lloyd stalked out in the area with the deck. Being only ten, he figured Wu was allowing him sleep to accommodate for the lack of it he had been getting. He didn't want to interrupt the scene of rest in-between training, so he awkwardly hung around the entrance.

His eyes first fell on the closest boy, who was tall and built evenly. His skin should be translucent, but was just incredibly pale. The shorter hair was sticking straight up, except for a piece of the bleach blond locks sticking down on his forehead stubbornly. It was like he was some sort of perfect, yet inhuman being.

Tearing his eyes away, he found a brunet in blue. Instead of sitting or lying down, he was pacing. It appeared to be a nervous habit, seeing as he was probably losing in some sort of game that was being conducted. The blond was staring at the other ninja as if in a hypnotic trance.

A sudden coughing fit started up on the deck, and the raven-haired teenager sat up and beat on his own chest, carefully avoiding the shimmery emblem. He put the cap back on his water bottle, and spluttered. He muttered something at the boy next to him.

The laughter broke through the silence, and the figure jumped up to avoid a fist swinging his way by the dark-adorned. Lloyd finally looked at the last ninja… but the teenager certainly not least. With the honey natural tan, and glittering brown irises, he wished he spotted this red ninja first. He found that all the boys were now up and about, ready to start training again or something. Their eyes met suddenly, and his fuller lips curled up into a grin.

Before Lloyd could get called out, he sped back in the way he arrived. He found his room and slammed the door behind him. Hopping onto the soft bed, he made sure the cloak hid his burning face. He figured he wouldn't get good attention for being somewhat of a spy. The younger elemental ninjas all probably hated him anyway. He really didn't want the teenagers to, especially not the spiky haired one.

He knew they all had certain abilities. He couldn't really tell except that the pale boy was something cold and the tanned had fire. It was a good guess, so he rolled with it. Would he ever get to be as cool as that? Be able to wield fire or freeze people? What the other two boys could do was a mystery since he didn't stick around to find out.

A knocking on the door startled him, seeing as he didn't figure he would actually get followed eventually. It came again, so he decided to answer it and slowly opened the door. There was the dark chocolate-haired, leaning against the doorframe now, impulsively, "You okay?"

"W-why do you ask?" Tried the boy, clearing his throat gently to get the nerves to leave his speaking ability alone.

"You ran off when I saw you, Lloyd," sighed the older male, doing his best not to point out that the blond was looking at them for some time before that, but then he held out a hand, "But hey, I'm Kai."

Padding past him in the doorway, the blond shrugged, "My bad, I guess I'm not very good with people."

Dropping the hand awkwardly, the tanned boy followed him closely, "I guess not." At the wince and pause in step, he added, "Not like that's your fault. You were with your dad for a long time, then shoved into boarding school."

This stole a grin, but Lloyd kept up the pace again, "Can I meet the other ninjas too?"

["I was crying a little for the boy I had wanted him to be and the boy he hadn't turned out to be." – Gabrielle Zevin]

At the lunch table, Wu made sure they all were seated and quiet before he motioned to Lloyd, "Since he will be staying with us, I want you to get to know my nephew."

The shortest looked around before smiling at him, "Um, I'm Jay. That's Cole-" The blue ninja pointed at the darkly dressed, then at his other side- "and this is Zane. You know Kai by now I'm guessing." It was strange to firstly try and stop the little nuisance, but then switch around and act friendly.

The youngest smiled back at the older kids hopefully, "Hey guys, I hope you don't hate me too much."

The dark and wavy-haired male waved a dismissive hand, "No worries, stranger will probably happen." Grinning over at the red ninja, he nudged the other in the ribs, "Right Kai?"

Noticing he was now the center of attention, Kai gave a smirk, "Well Cole's cooking comes out on top for that sort of thing…"

"Shut up, idiot," muttered the red-faced Cole, moving his spoon through the soggy mess of a lunch. A hint of affection was in his vocals, so something was bound to happen there whether Lloyd liked it or not.

Eventually Zane stretched his upper body from side-to-side, "I do not find making fun of someone's cooking skills is very kindly."

The lightning ninja practically giggled, but caught his behavior with a straight face, "Loosen up, Zane."

"I would never make fun of anything you did," pointed out said male, but then scooped the food into his mouth at the sudden quiet.

The only girl onboard walked into the room, "Well, I'm sure glad this thing has auto-pilot, because I'm hungry for just about anything." The area dissipated into undeniable laughter at what was said, seeing as the face she made at the bowl of food at her place at the table made it funny. Seeing Lloyd as she sat down. "Oh, you're Lloyd right? I'm Nya…" But looked too tired to say much else.

[If you follow someone else, you are ignoring your own path. - Fortune Cookie]

Sensei Wu decidedly followed after Lloyd that night, smiling gently. Not getting noticed, he gingerly placed a hand on the cloaked shoulder and gained the attention he was seeking, "I hope you feel as if you're one of us."

"I feel better now that they accepted me," he was referring to the jokes he told off on all afternoon. Without that it would have been too uncomfortable. "I'm going to get ready for bed…" After stalking down the hallways far enough, he spun back around to have a practically flying hug. "Thank you for taking me in, Uncle," he muffled into the silky kimono.

"Of course, you have much potential and much learning ahead of you. I want to be the one to help you down the path with Garmadon gone for now." With that, he patted the boy's bowl-cut and went the opposite direction. Glancing over a bony shoulder, he called, "Enjoy the room, that was mine at some point."

Lloyd smiled sadly back, but gave a wave and a nod. After getting kicked out of the boarding school, the disappearance of his father, and getting tricked by countless Serpentine… He would have accepted the hardwood floor. The kindness he felt he didn't deserve was overwhelming.


End file.
